Community Art
We are proud to highlight regional artist collections in our locations across Connecticut. We invite people to visit and view the community art featured.
675 Main St Middletown
Padma Rajendran
Born in Klang, Malaysia Lives in Catskill / NY
“Home is a tended space, where the decorative beckons prosperity to flourish. I am engaged in the symbolism of “fruitfulness” within the home and how this blessing and burden has traditionally derived from the female body. Working with fibers conjures images and forms that are personal translations of shrine and monument.
Women are able to hold onto cultural elements of homeland much differently than children and men, how do immigrant women create and sustain their stories? I consider how I can honor these stories to bring them out of hiding. I am interested in the aftereffect of migration on interior life, rituals associated within the home and food culture, language and its loss, and the emergence of hopeful traditions in sustaining life and the spirit. The role of women and interior spaces are linked. I am curious about the unseen experiences and traces of labor that are lost to time and consumption. Textiles are essential to live. They protect our bodies, demarcate identity and social hierarchy, and provide emblematic comfort. I find abundance in reconstituting decorative folk art imagery and textile structure to retell contemporary stories going unseen.
Utilizing fabric of different hierarchies, I experiment with the clash and combination of patterning and structure. The composition and content indicate duality that centers around multi-facetted definitions of Other and universal heritage. Encoding cloth with these adornments, inks, symbols, and scenes is a way to honor these stories, traditions, and strains. My work addresses observations and contradictory understanding of home, homecoming, and homeland.”
–Padma Rajendran
134 State Street, Meriden
Larry Morse
“I was born in Harlem Hospital, Harlem New York on October 3, 1947. My artistic I was born strengths became apparent early in my youth, and educators were quick to encourage and support me in this area of my development. After a tour of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, I obtained a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. I went on to work in the commercial art world in Manhattan, eventually returning to school and becoming certified to teach art in the state of New York. I taught in the NYC public school system for 15 years. Throughout my life, I have continuously pursued my own artistic personal vision and amassed a considerable body of work. Currently I live in Ansonia where my studio is located. Notable venues where my work has been shown include City Lights Gallery, The NEST, and Bridgeport Innovation Center in Bridgeport, Gallery 287 and Mothership Café in Danbury, The Mitchell Library in West Haven, Carol Peck’s Good News Café in Woodbury, The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, and the Easton Library. My work is now included in the permanent collection of the Housatonic Art Museum.”
–Larry Morse
Black Men Reading Series Artist Statement
“As a result of economic, social, and historical realities, reading – as a way of life – has hardly been as sufficiently emphasized in the Black culture as it is in others. The task of teaching the skill and the love of reading has been left to educators. However, the development of adequate reading skills requires that the early home environment play a major part of that process and Blacks, for the most part, are not afforded that advantage, as a result of well-known outside pressures. Instead, the media and one’s peers play the major role in shaping the lifestyle of young Black children. These factors place no emphasis on the value of reading. When we recall, at one time in our history, it was against the law to teach a Black man (or woman) to read, let alone for Black men (or women) to be caught in the act of reading – that the punishment could be death for either, we are reminded of the profundity of the subject. We are reminded of why it is now, more than ever, vitally important, that Black men establish the habit of reading, and provide an example for others to follow. Having pondered these factors, I am committed to providing, for the world, images of “Black Men Reading”.”
–Larry Morse
Alan’s Jellyfish Fields
24”x18”
canvas acrylic pour with balloon design
14”x14”
Acrylic pour
14”x14”
Acrylic pour
canvas acrylic pour
canvas acrylic pour and string pull design
canvas acrylic pour with blow dryer
Futures Inc.
The previous 6 artworks were made at the art center at Futures Inc. in Middletown. Futures Inc. is a Connecticut-based organization that serves the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Its programs provide educational support, mentoring, transition planning, job training and placement, independent living and recreation, and community volunteerism for students and adults. Futures Inc. has centers and programs embedded in communities including West Hartford, Middletown, Hartford, Berlin, New Britain, and Norwich.
85 Lafayette Street, New Britain
D. Douglas
Demeree’s collection of work explores women of color who are a part of the Natural Hair Movement. A movement that encourages men and women of African descent to embrace their natural hair texture. As such, a common theme you’ll see in her work is a reflection of herself – a black woman daring to “normalize” black hair by embracing her own natural curls. She often incorporates various textures such as flowers and glitter to globally represent the beauty of black hair. Demeree uses her paintings as a voice for the silenced woman who may feel pressure to straighten her hair and hide her heritage to satisfy society’s standards.
Although Demeree’s work centers around natural hair, you will find many different hairstyles that are exclusive to her culture and community: faux locs, braids, flat twists, and ninja buns for example. Her pieces often include abstract elements to represent the numerous interpretations behind not only black hair and black art, but the black woman herself.
Although Demeree’s work centers around natural hair, you will find many different hairstyles that are exclusive to her culture and community: faux locs, braids, flat twists, and ninja buns for example. Her pieces often include abstract elements to represent the numerous interpretations behind not only black hair and black art, but the black woman herself.
1 Shaws Cove, New London
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Series
oil on canvas, artist’s frame 10”x6”
Fond Memories Abstract Series Artist Statement
When I rely on non-representative (abstract) devices to express me artistic vision, I endeavor to bring the viewer to a place which has them relive their first encounter with the world they saw so early in life; before anything had a name and everything was still brand new. I want the viewer to remember that delicious disorientation they experienced before they had any established means in which to assist themself in making sense of this new world in which they found themself. The series of oils on canvas, Fond Memories, attempts to accomplish just that. In this case, I endeavor to recall my first impressions of my father. The results are a collection of disassociated anatomical parts which at a time in my development assigned me my first challenge of figuring out what life is.”
–Larry Morse
Other Works in our Collection
Omni Eats An Apple
acrylic on canvas
Peace
Peace (blue)
Reader in his Studio oil, artist’s frame 31.5”x48”
marker on paper and foam board
20”x26”
acrylic and pinecones on canvas
12”x12”
16”x12”
Robert Zwilling
Robert Zwilling was born and raised in southern New England. A digital/analog artist, he also writes prose and poetry utilizing verbal brush strokes to fashion ordinary words into unusual viewpoints. Especially fond of the infinite varieties of patterns created by trees throughout their entire life cycles. With a self-taught arts and crafts background, he incorporates the ways of art into everything he does. He fashioned pewter items decorated with stained glass, collages created from homemade pictures, paintings and prints featuring abstract geometric designs along with ordinary items found in daily life.